Minister of Transport determined to keep drunk and illegal drivers in jail for longer
More jail time for drunk, wreckless and illegal drivers:
During the third National Road Safety Summit, Minister Dipuo Peters stated that the department is determined to deliver severe blow to those in possession of fraudulent driver’s licences and roadworthy certificates.
This is part of the Unit’s efforts to investigate cases of alleged corruption and to cooperate with other law enforcement agencies.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the fight against corruption continues to be taken forward by the Anti-Corruption inter-Ministerial Committee. Government has in place seven anti-corruption institutions and 17 pieces of legislation which are intended to combat corruption,” said Peters.
She also stated that the Department will come down hard on those who are found to be driving under the influence.
According to IOL the Department will be assisting law enforcement agencies to ensure that those who are arrested for drunk driving, speeding and driving unroadworthy vehicles are kept in jail.
Also read: Capetonians and drunk driving still out of hand
“We will also be going to court to oppose bail applications to make sure that those people stay in jail,” she added. “We want them to feel what it’s like to stay in jail for something that they could have avoided.
“The Christmas weekend will be a long weekend,” sh e said. “So if you are arrested on a Friday, you will be kept in jail until Tuesday. We want our traffic officers not to give spot fines or warnings to those arrested for speeding and other transgressions on the road.”
A 2016 study conducted by RTMC & CSIR confirms the negative impact of road crashes to the economy at R142.95 billion, which translated to 3.4% of South Africa’s GDP, and even 1.4% higher than the international benchmark.
The costs to the economy were caused predominantly by human casualty (63.3%), followed by Incidents & Infrastructure (15.8%) and Vehicle Repairs (14.9%).